Racing Down The River

Racing Down the River   - Sept 7, 2010

Someone once said, “True freedom is not a question of doing as we like,
but doing as we ought.”

Clovis Chappell, a nineteenth century minister, used to tell an
interesting story about two paddleboats.
The two boats, powered by coal, left Memphis about the same time,
traveling down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. As they traveled
side-by-side, sailors from one vessel made some critical remarks and
jokes about the snail’s pace of the other boat.

Heated words were exchanged between the men on the two boats. Challenges
were made. So the race began. The competition was hot and heavy as the
two boats roared through the Deep South.

Eventually, one boat began falling behind. The problem: it didn’t have
enough fuel. There had been plenty of coal for the trip, but not enough
for a race.

As the boat dropped back, an enterprising young sailor took some of the
ship’s cargo and tossed it into the boat’s ovens. When his fellow
sailors saw that the supplies burned as well as coal, they fueled their
boat with the material they had been assigned to transport.

Guess what? They ended up winning the race. But they burned their cargo.

How Does This Apply to Our Lives?

The men on the winning boat did what they liked, which was winning the
race. But the price for that victory was expensive. The boat’s cargo,
the very reason they were traveling down the river in the first place,
was sacrificed. So they failed to do what they ought to have done, which
was to safely transport their cargo.

You may not have thought about it, but God has entrusted each of us with
cargo. Our cargo is other people, such as friends and family, and the
ability He has given us to help someone else. We are responsible for
this cargo, and ought to cherish it in our journey through life.

However, like the men on the winning boat, often we fail in that
responsibility. As Billy Graham says, “We hurt people by being too busy.
Too busy to notice their needs. Too busy to drop that note of comfort or
encouragement or assurance of love. Too busy to listen when someone
needs to talk. Too busy to care.”

Are you too busy to care? When opportunities occur to help others, do
you take advantage of those opportunities? Or do you burn your cargo as
you busily do what you like?

Be diligent, and do what you ought to do. Slow down for the needs of
your family and friends. Seize opportunities to help people when it is
within your power to do so.

Finally, remember one other cargo God has entrusted to you. It is the
Good News of Jesus Christ. Diligently share that Good News with others,
and help people who are using their gifts for Christ reach even more
people.

Your diligence with the cargo God has given you will be very rewarding.

“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to
poverty.”
Proverbs 21:5